I think the most difficult problem with painting a group of birds
is to place them in a convincing composition. During the cold weather of last
winter flocks of Fieldfares and Redwings were attracted to the holly berries
and over ripe crab apples in the garden. I attempted to paint a watercolour of
four Redwings in the branches of our crab apple. It wasn’t working so I enlisted the help of
Painter XI.
I started the painting by making an outline watercolour drawing directly with
a No. 6 Sable. Next a scan of two of the birds was opened in Painter. The outlines of the birds, tree branches, and
the watercolour wash used for the sky are visible. The digital additions were done on two layers
The first was used to add a transparent background fill and the second layer
was used to add the berries.
It would be possible to develop detail and modify colours on
subsequent layers with the aim of producing a digital print. With the file
saved that’s an option that could be tried later. After this initial
exploration I’m more attracted to taking the watercolour to a finished state
with the use of body colour.
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